New Canaan blogger sentenced to jail

Published 10:50 pm, Thursday, April 4, 2013

NEW CANAAN -- The financial blogger found guilty last month of posting lurid details of a teen girl's personal journal on Facebook was sentenced Thursday to 30 days in prison and a year of probation.

Teri Buhl, 40, of New Canaan, was also barred from any interaction with the girl or the girl's father, whom she was dating at the time of the incident in 2010.

"I believe you seriously impacted the life of (the victim) and his daughter," said Judge William Wenzel as Buhl was handcuffed by judicial marshals at state Superior Court in Norwalk.

"Young people make mistakes, whether with alcohol, sex or drugs, and its's because they're young," Wenzel said, explaining that they don't deserve to have those mistakes publicly broadcast online.

Buhl was found guilty on misdemeanor charges of harassment and breach of peace. She was acquitted of interfering with a police investigation. Buhl's attorneys had asked for probation only in the sentence, given that Buhl is a first-time offender with no prior criminal history.

"I can't just excuse it," Wenzel said in his remarks.

Buhl's attorneys said they will appeal the verdict. Her bond was increased to $25,000 and her attorneys said they had $2,500 in cash with which to meet bail.

"She's not going to jail," Frank DiScala, the attorney who argued the case, said after the sentencing. During final sentencing arguments, DiScala told the judge that he has known Buhl for 25 years and can attest to her high character.

Buhl was charged in November 2010 after New Canaan police determined she posted on Facebook parts of a then-17-year-old's personal journal detailing underage drinking and sexual activity at a party. According to the prosecution's argument, on the day of New Canaan High School's graduation, Buhl created a Facebook account under the alias "Tasha Moore" and posted photographs of diary entries of the then-New Canaan High School senior's diary. Buhl was dating the girl's father at the time. The diary entries had been stuffed into the back of the girl's bedside drawer.

The defense attempted to make an argument that Buhl's relationship with the girl and the girl's father was amicable, and therefore she had no motive to post the embarrassing diary entries, citing the statute's language of intent to harass or annoy.